New UN Human Rights Chief Visits Colombia

The United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights today begins a week-long
review of the situation in Colombia, in her first country
visit since taking up the post last month, which will be
followed next week by a stop in Haiti.

In Colombia,
Navanethem Pillay will meet with President Alvaro Uribe and
senior ministers, as well as members of Congress, the
judiciary, civil society, and UN colleagues to discuss a
range of human rights concerns.

The Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has a major country
office in Colombia, and while there Ms. Pillay will have the
opportunity to visit her agency's field operations outside
the capital, Bogota.

During her four-day visit to Haiti,
which begins on 2 November, the High Commissioner plans to
meet with President Rene Preval and other representatives of
Government and civil society, as well as visit a regional
office outside the capital, Port-au-Prince.

Among the
issues that will be raised are judicial reforms, and the
extent to which economic and social rights are subject to
legal jurisdiction -- particularly relevant given the severe
aggravation of existing deprivation by the recent natural
disasters and the global food crisis.

OHCHR carries out
its work in Haiti through the Human Rights Section in the
integrated UN peacekeeping mission, known as
MINUSTAH.

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